The Secret of Prosperity - Part 4 of 4

In case you haven't noticed, "contentment" is the theme that has been woven into this little series on prosperity. Just to make it clear - I'm not saying that an abundance of material possessions is wrong or bad. But I think that the words of Jesus and Paul are great reminders to us that Life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.

Whether I’m rich or poor, I have Life and I have joy, peace, contentment... and that’s what life consists of. The happiness from my earthly possessions will end some day. It may be tomorrow, or it may be when I die. But my earthly possessions will go away. They’ll disappear; they’ll be burned up. But my joy comes from the Lord, and it’s eternal. Yes it’s fine to have plenty, and to be full, and to live in a mansion. But it’s also fine, and it’s not a sign of a lack of faith or a lack of the life of Christ in you if you’re hungry or if you don’t have many possessions. How much you have or don’t have is irrelevant!

I want something that's so much deeper as my source of prosperity. I don't just want temporary happiness. There's nothing wrong with temporary happiness, but if prosperity depends upon happiness that comes from earthly riches and circumstances, it's fleeting! No, I want something of more substance, that's everlasting. Whether full or hungry, with or without, naked or clothed, living in a mansion or on the streets - I want true prosperity. I want to be content no matter what my circumstances. As I said at the beginning (Part 1), I'm growing in this. Not fully arrived. But I'm growing more and more content as time goes on and my circumstances change day by day, sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse.

The pure gospel contains the message of true prosperity. The gospel is God’s righteousness revealed; it’s the good news of eternal life, of a spirit that was born dead to God and then made alive together with Him and is sitting together with Him in the heavenly places – whether the body that that spirit inhabits has many earthly possessions or not.

Prosperity - "a successful, flourishing, or thriving condition."

If I were to sum all this up, I would say that the secret to prosperity is to be content with whatever you have, and the secret to being content is daily appropriating Jesus' wise words that life does not consist in the abundance of possessions, and to daily appropriate the true riches that we do have in Christ, apart from our earthly riches or circumstances!

Now... live long and prosper!
(Sorry, couldn't resist!) ;)

The Secret of Prosperity Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4